I think a part of the problem is the perception that a successful launch is something you can measure 'the morning after', whereas the truth is that after the initial burst of traffic is gone you'll be left with little to no traction. That's when the real work starts and you're looking at months of gruelling grunt work to flog the thing forward in spite of any really gratifying moments other than to slowly see your stats craws back up to the level that you seemed to achieve so effortlessly on day one.

It can take quite a while before your real audience has found you, viral elements help but are no guarantee of a significantly easier process, even if they can cut the time it takes to get to the level of 'ramen profitability'.

And that's all assuming you make no critical mistakes, which can set you back weeks or months.

Endurance is far more important than talent in this phase and I think that is something that ought to be made much more clear. If the expectations are more realistic I think people would find it in themselves to go the distance.

Unrealistic expectations are killing.